The Long Road Back
by Acathla
Summary: AU story. What if Alison hadn't been killed that night? What if, instead, she'd been kidnapped and held for a year by a psychotic person? What if she escaped? What would it take for Alison and her friends to recover from that? This is about the long road back to normal after a traumatic event. Rated M for descriptions of kidnapping and other bad things.


**AN: This is an AU fic. I will pull elements and dialogue mostly from the pilot but also a few random season 1 episodes. In this AU world, there is no A sending texts. The entire A storyline as of right now won't be in this story. This is a story mostly about the long road back to a sense of normal after a traumatic event. In this case, Alison's disappearance and what happened to her the year she was missing. Oh yeah, she's alive in this story just FYI. Enjoy! Any questions or concerns, just ask. Reviews always welcomed.**

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**Prologue**

_August 2009_

Spencer Hastings, Emily Fields, Aria Montgomery, and Hanna Marin were fast asleep in their sleeping bags in Spencer's barn after their party celebrating the end of summer. The only one missing was the leader of their little group, Alison DiLaurentis.

Alison had received a text asking her to meet in the woods, that it was important. So she had waited until her friends were asleep before she snuck out to meet Ian Thomas.

Ian had a camera and Alison had been her usual teasing self. After a while, they had sex and then she had left, eager to get back to the barn before her friends woke up so she wouldn't have to explain where she was.

Alison was halfway to the barn when she felt something hit the back of her head and darkness descended.

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The first thing Alison was aware of was the darkness. She knew her eyes were opened but wherever she was it was total darkness. Carefully, she started to feel around, trying to get some indication of where she was, but all she encountered was a cement floor. The air was damp, musty and smelled of mold and rotting earth. Alison guessed she was in a basement of some kind but she didn't know where. She carefully lifted her hand and felt the back of her head. She winced when her fingers came in contact with a tender spot that hurt when she touched it.

She vaguely remembered something hitting her head and she realized that someone had attacked her. Fear began to creep along her spine and seep into her mind. She wondered if anyone would even look for her, if they would find her…if whoever had kidnapped her would kill her before then and all that would be left was her mutilated dead body.

There was a creaking noise and she looked up towards the sound and saw a door slowly opening. Alison scooted as far away from the door as she could, only managing a few feet before she hit a wall.

The tall, ominous figure stepped into the room and when Alison looked up at its face, she was surprised to be looking up at her own face. This person, who she could tell was definitely a man, was wearing one of the masks of her own face that she had made a while ago.

Alison watched, scared beyond all reason, as a creepy laugh echoed through the room but the face remained still. A deep voice said, **"Welcome to your nightmare Alison…or would you prefer I call you Vivian? It doesn't matter. Your name is irrelevant, who you were before this moment is no more. You belong to me now little girl. All of your lies, your secrets, your pretty smiles and attempts at manipulation," **he waved a gloved hand in the air,** "gone…like dust in the wind. Get comfortable little girl, you're never leaving this place." ** He stepped out of the room for a second then returned with a tray of food and a soda. He placed the tray on the floor, **"eat, I need you healthy…for now." **With that, he left again, locking the door behind him.

Alison waited a few moments before she slowly crept towards the tray, noticing he had brought her a turkey sandwich, a bag of chips and a can of soda. Alison started to smile but then the reality of the situation hit her again and she felt the despair start to settle into her mind. She slowly lifted the sandwich to her lips and took a bite, hoping it wasn't poisoned or anything.

In a dark, quiet room, the masked figure sat and watched the monitor as his 'guest' ate the food he provided for her. Beneath the mask, an evil grin formed as he thought about all the things he was going to do to that little girl.

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**There it is! So yeah, Alison wasn't killed she was kidnapped. Who took her? Why? Stay tuned, my darlings.**


End file.
